Home Improvements

Installing a Warm Roof

Contents

Introduction

Insulation is one of those ubiquitous techniques that is always around, always impinging on our work, social and domestic activities and yet for most of the time is hardly noticed. Insulation is a passive product, once installed it works efficiently, quietly and continually, usually out of sight enclosed within a structure, a casing or under cladding.

Insulation comes to the fore when new design of buildings, plant, equipment or production processes are being considered. It is at this stage that the right specification must be made, any shortfall in the thickness, or error in the type and application details will prove costly to rectify at a later date.

There are many reasons why professional engineers, architects and indeed laymen use insulation:

to comply with mandatory legislation i.e. Building Regulations or Standards;

to reduce heat loss/heat gain;

to reduce running costs;

to control process temperatures;

to control surface temperatures;

to reduce the risk of freezing;

to provide condensation control; and

to reduce heating plant capacity.

How Target helps to install Warm Roofs

Target has designed a fixing which has the installation ease of a nail - but the fixing strength of a screw. The Skew Fast warm roof fixing is installed through the counterbatten, rigid insulation and into the rafter below.

By using the Target Fixings Skew Fast insulation fixings to fix the counterbattens over the insulation, the counterbattens effectively become the rafters. Tile or slate battens can be fixed back to the counterbattens in the standard, and accepted, manner - subject to the relevant timber codes.

With a very small effective core diameter the Grade 304 stainless steel Skew Fast can be used in timber widths of 30mm or below. The diameter does not increase with length, still allowing conformation with CP112:1972, something not possible with a conventional nail of equivalent length.